Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin..........

Well first of all, Hi there I'm back.....sorry for the gap between posts but on Thursday night I was just too knackered to write and then I've had an amazing weekend away....so if you're all settled, got your cuppa and  a biscuit (or Jaffa cake) then I'll tell you all about it.........

Thursday (seems so long ago..lol) I went back to London, to the Women's Library to complete the research....Sadly J couldn't come with me this time, but I did manage to finish what I needed to do....but it took me until nearly 6pm (good job they open late on Thursdays).... I had to use the micro-fiche machine and it was old, clunky and mildly scary.....not to mention expensive to take copies from - 30p a sheet - cost me £20 to get everything but it was either that or go up again and a) that costs £44 a time, b) it's knackering and c) I just don't have the time to go again.... Anyway, I just missed a train to Portsmouth, so decided to have a Burger King instead of waiting till 9pm to eat.... When I did get on the train it was (as usual) very crowded and I realised that the man sitting opposite me was reading the Malleus Maleficarum - a 15th century treatise on witches - not your average daily reading.....I used it for my undergrad dissertation but I wouldn't say it's a fun read....ah well, it takes all sorts...... On arriving in Portsmouth, the rain was falling heavily and so I got soaked on the bike ride home...lucky me....home time = bed time for me ..... 

Friday morning was spent seeing my doctor.....it went well.....he is concerned for me and has upped the amount of anti-d I take, and I have to self-refer to Talking Changes which is an NHS funded cognitive behaviour counselling service... I've filled the form in, which was interesting - answering the questions honestly I realised just how bad things are...oh dear...anyway, that's all done so I'll wait to hear from them and we'll go from there.... In the meantime I'm under strict orders to take the meds (which I do anyway), to go back to see the doc in 2 months time and to go immediately if I feel worse or anything changes....all sensible suggestions and it's good to know that the doc is happy to see me if needed..... Right now, I don't feel too bad so I'll take that :)

Friday afternoon I set off for Southampton to see my lovely friends Rhian, Rachel and Sophie, our friends Beth and Nathan were coming from Wales as well.. I met all of these people through Jack's Army and it's as though I've known them forever.... As you probably know I get anxious in new places and situations but it's a testament to how amazing these friends are, that never once during the whole weekend did I feel anxiety or nerves.... We stayed at Rhian's house, and she'd made up the spare room for me, it was just so comfy and welcoming.....Rhian and the girls shared and swapped rooms so that we could all be comfy and it was so nice to be welcomed and made to feel at home.... Even Smoky the cat let me fuss him......

Beth and Nathan arrived a few hours later, and once greetings were out of the way we all tucked in to some yummy food - finishing with *drumroll* chocolate cheesecake.....

Now, I know that I'm on a diet...and I know that I need to lose weight...and I'm even aware of the fact that it's the Race for Life next weekend BUT......I was incited by someone who shall remain nameless, *cough* Rhian *cough*, to forget said diet and to enjoy the naughty food...so I did.....I mean obviously she had to twist my arm and all that (hahaha)...no really she did....what do you mean you don't believe me? Sigh, ok then, I jumped at the chance....and I'm telling you that it was worth it but (and this is the best bit) I'm happy to go back to the diet now.... Anyway - this chocolate cheesecake was DELICIOUS....seriously yummy - it tasted like when you lick the bowl out when your mum has made cake and icing.... *mouth waters at the memory* 

It was a lovely evening because even though I'd not met Beth and Nathan before, I felt as though I knew them already because I'd chatted online and texted to Beth.... Rachel's boyfriend Chris was there as well and I salute him because he was surrounded (before Beth and Nathan arrived) by four VERY excited and hyper women who promptly screamed and ran stampeded for the front door when the others arrived - he just took it like a pro, and was very chilled..... So the evening passed with lots of chatter and giggles....and then, because it was the 13th, and because we met through Jack's Army, we lit candles in memory of Jack - Friday was 9 months since he died, and it feels like yesterday....it's true to say that we miss him more all time, and can't talk about him enough....

We had a relatively early night because we all had to be up early-ish on the Saturday to drive to Old Sarum Airfield in Salisbury to watch Nathan throw himself out of a plane for another little star, Joseph Bowen, who has leukemia..... Nathan was ridiculously calm, whilst Beth, Rachel, Rhian and I were super excited because we were finally getting a chance to meet and have a cwtch with Joseph aka Jobo.... We arrived at about 11am, having driven through several tranches of torrential rain...and to be honest it didn't look very good when we arrived.....

 

So there was a suspicion that Nathan wouldn't get to jump, sorry 'fall with style', from 10,000 feet...and that suspicion was eventually proved correct....sadly the weather never improved enough, and did get worse (downpours and wind) and so Nathan will now be Jumping for Jobo on the 9th September..... On the plus side I did get to have snuggles with Jobo himself who is as charming and gorgeous as I thought he'd be.... I even got a mention (along with Beth) in his blog *preens self like a superstar* and I fully intend to take his lovely mum (Celine) up on her kind offer to go over for a cuppa - they only live locally so I'm looking forward to that....

I encourage you all to go to Jobo's mum's blog (http://josephbowensjourney.blogspot.co.uk/) to read about him, because this post is long enough already...but suffice it to say that Jobo is an adorable little chap who charms everyone and is so amazing brave and cheerful that it's hard to remember how poorly he has been (and that he's still on chemo).... 

When we finally gave Jobo back to his mum (that was tough to do, lol) we set off home and ended up having a lovely chilled out evening with more yummy food (banoffee pie - nom nom nom), lots of laughter and masses of talking.... At one point Rhian, Rachel, Beth and I sat and watched some of Jack's mum's videos of him - made us laugh and cry and reminded us (as if we needed it) that his bravery and cheerfulness were simply breathtaking... It's so horribly unfair that he's not with his loving family and friends anymore, a reminder that stupid cancer is so sucky and a definite incentive to be successful in the search for a cure.....it's so wrong that amazing people are being taken every day by this horrible disease.... 

Today was another lazy day, and then eventually I had to leave and come home...and here we are..... I had an amazing weekend, I felt so at home at Rhian's and can't believe how easy it was to settle..especially given how anxious etc., I've been recently.... Now I'm on the countdown to the Jack Marshall Ball on the 15th September (two months) when I'll get to meet up with so many other lovely people.... before that though I've got the Race for Life and the small matter of a dissertation to write..... 

Right, will leave you in peace now... thanks for reading... :)